In these times of meta-fast living, some things should remain the same, and one of these is a decent way to resign from your job. We’ve all heard the old slogan “Leave all the doors open”. Whether it’s a cliché or not doesn’t matter, it’s alright to stick to some clichés, just as it’s sometimes right to bend the rules and change the existing status quo.

Two weeks ago I submitted a resignation to my boss with a standard two-week notice. Almost all endings are sad or at least bitter sweet. Looking back to when I began my job my intention was to work in my company until I retire. I doubt that many think about leaving or quitting when they start a new job. We work and stay in our positions, progress and move up the ladder of success. Or we stagnate for reasons out of our control, or life circumstances change and at some point in life we realize that we’ll have to change the job eventually.

If you work in a competitive industry, the worst possible situation for your current boss, manager, supervisor, company owner etc, is when you are moving to a new job with a competitor. I can only imagine the kind of thoughts and worries going through their minds, the need to protect the intellectual property, to keep current customers, to safeguard the values important to the company and vulnerability in a competitive marketplace. That is why very often managers don’t allow you to work for two weeks, but prefer to walk you out of the door, say goodbye and good luck, and close the door behind you. You shouldn’t take that personally, it is common practice and considering the fact that many employees aren’t ethical or decent, it is often a sensible decision.

However, at times, your current manager will choose to take the risk and keep you around for two weeks because it is important to him and the company to smoothly finalize all open jobs, to satisfy customer’s needs and prepare the field for new employee who’ll step into your shoes. If this is the case, then respect the trust your boss has placed in you. He or she is showing that you are trusted to continue to work ethically up to the very last moment; you should return that trust, do your work, finish all open projects and finish out your notice by doing your job as you have always done it. Believe me; you will feel better by doing so, even proud for giving your best effort and knowing that you have left with your good reputation enhanced. Your boss will appreciate your diligence, and your customers will be grateful. As a bonus, you can be certain that if you ever need a reference, this is one ex-boss that will give you one.

I was the last to leave the office today, my desk full of lovely gifts, bouquet of gorgeous roses from my boss, a bottle of wine from my closest colleague, a shawl from ladies in the office, cookies, thank-you cards, but most of all, smiles, hugs and good luck wishes. We laughed and recollected events and stories from our many years of working together, spoke about future plans, made promises to stay in touch and meet from time to time. I sent off my last quotes, my last emails, finalized billings, and closed my file, And then logged out of my computer, cleaned up my desk for the last time, turned the lights off and walked away smiling. There will be challenges ahead for my former colleagues and for myself, and we will manage them. This much I know.

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At the beginning of May, I took a field trip with my friends. It didn’t require a lot of money, long planning and packing, and yet it was a wonderful adventure.

Rijeka is a town deeply connected with water, in all of its forms. These ties are manifested in a number of town’s urban elements: from its toponym and motto (English translation of ”Rijeka” is ”river”), coat of arms (two-headed eagle standing on top of a container from which water spills out), the fact that the town is a major Croatian port and that its industrial and urban development has for ages been connected with the sea and Rječina, the river that flows through Rijeka.

In the town’s hinterland there is a whole magical world of nature that was shaped around the river flow. Few years ago, a walking path following the river was arranged, some 20 km long, that…

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As you have hopefully already heard, Croatia is having a national stand at the London Book Fair this year, for the first time ever. In fact, it is the first time that any republic of the former Yugoslavia has taken a stand.

So why have they decided to take this step? Well, it is part of a series of events organised to highlight the country’s culture and achievement by the Welcome Croatia Festival, in the lead-up to Croatia’s entry to the European Union this summer. And as luck would have it (or some might call it ‘fate’), two Croatian writers are up for major UK literary awards: the north-American resident Josip Novakovich has been nominated for the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement and Daša Drndić’s book – Trieste – has been long-listed for the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. These two facts in themselves just go to…

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Preview of my book of photographs from the Rijeka Carnival in Croatia, available from Blurb…

Held on the last Sunday before Lent, the wild and wonderful Rijeka Carnival is one of the largest Carnival processions in Europe – an enormous event with up to 10,000 participants from around 100 Carnival groups, and well over 100,000 spectators.